Melbourne’s best Italian restaurants
We’ve long loved our carbonnaras and pizzas, but Italian is having renaissance in Melbourne with seemingly every second new restaurant serving pasta and primitivo. Here are the best right now.
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From martinis and crostini at the glamour den that is Di Stasio Citta to the more humble charms of such neighbourhood faves as Park St Pasta with its knockout veal and rabbit agnolotti, the full spectrum of dining now comes draped in red, white and green.
Here are the Melbourne’s best Italian restaurants for when nothing but a bowl of perfect pasta or slice of pepperoni pizza will do.
CITTA
Milan comes to Melbourne in the most spectacular way at Città.
Rinaldo ‘Ronnie’ Di Stasio’s CBD outpost of his St Kilda stalwart made a multimillion-dollar splash upon opening earlier this year with its mix of modern art and hospitality’s timeless arts.
The full menu that covers all bases – from fab fried anchovies and little milk buns piled high with mortadella through saltimboccaalla Romana and agnello al forno – is cleverly served all day, all night and packed with things you’ll want to eat and return just for.
LELLO
At once modern and old school, Lello remains a convivial and reliable CBD go-to for authentic Italian cooking.
Hand-made pasta is the star of the show, with the vincisgrassi lasagne layered with beef, offal and béchamel an intense but balanced delight.
And don’t overlook the cacio e pepe, the pasta made with a burnt grain flour for a nutty depth of flavour.
PARK ST PASTA
A piping-hot bowl of pasta on a cold Melbourne night is as comforting as a hug.
Whether it’s al dente casarecce jostling in a hefty beef short rib, or sage butter-drenched agnolotti pillows of veal and rabbit, Park Street Pasta shows other neighbourhood locals – as well as more famous pasta bars – just how it’s done.
MASSI
Massi may only be in its fourth year but there’s more than a quarter of a century of hospitality smarts in owner-chef JosephVargetto, which explains why his intimate dining room is as full for a midweek lunch as it is for a romantic Saturday datenight.
With about 50 seats at either the marble bar, timber tables or leather booths, Massi is the sort of place where you don’t have to be a regular to be treated like one.
OSTERIA ILLARIA
Along with its more famous sibling next door (Tipo 00), Osteria Ilaria is redefining what Italian food is in a city long obsessed with tagliatelle alla ragu and pesce alla griglia.
This always-bustling trattoria might be less pasta-focused than Tipo, but overlooking it here is a trap for young players, for such plates as nettle pappardelle tossed through a rich, sticky braise of goat are simply outstanding.
AROMI
Italian has defined Melbourne 2019 and Aromi in Brighton is Paolo Masciopinto and Salvatore Montella’s (ex Sarti, Bar Carolina)contribution to the canon.
And it’s up there with the best, for Masciopinto is turning out some truly excellent versions of the classics.
Start with his knockout gnoccho fritto, for this puffy fried dough square stuffed with soft cheese and draped with wagyu bresaolais one of the best snacks you’ll eat this year.
TIPO 00
Is it little wonder Melbourne’s most famous pasta bar is as pumpingly busy on a cold winter’s Monday as it is a summer’s Fridaynight?
Sure, it’s now firmly placed on many a tourist’s must-do Melbourne list, but Tipo 00’s charms are such that rather than becominga victim of its own success, this loud little laneway space is as good as ever thanks in part to terrific staff who managethe throngs, and pasta that remains utterly queue-worthy.
CAPITANO
Tony Soprano would have felt right at home at Capitano but the meatballs, pizza and salumi they sling at this Italian-Americandiner in deepest Carlton are a cut above anything that TV’s mob boss might have enjoyed in New Jersey.
Same goes for the juice.
GROSSI GRILL
Sure, you could take a window table at Bourke Street’s Grossi Grill just for the best people-watching Melbourne has to offer,but those in the know will tell you it’s the pasta that’s the real attention seeker at this wonderfully refined, yet casual,sibling to the pinky-up styles of Florentino upstairs.
LEONARDO’S PIZZA PALACE
South Yarra’s Ramblr may be no more (RIP), but executive chef Nick Stanton’s terrific, tingling Sichuan Bolognese that toppednoodles there lives on in pizza form at the team’s equally rollicking new pizza joint, Leonardo’s Pizza Palace.
It’s just one of the genre-mashing delights on offer at this retro-cool Carlton restaurant that’s pumpingly busy with brilliantstaff that keep the place running smoothly with style.
GIRO D’ITALIA
At Giro d’Italia, owner/chef Domenico de Marco is taking North Carlton locals on a ride through Italy, one dish at a time.
And don’t they race in for his tortelli – sunshine-vibrant plump packets of sweet roasted pumpkin sprinkled with Amaretticrumbs – and equally memorable gnocchi tossed through a rich duck ragu with a clever spritz of orange.
SMITH & DAUGHTERS
There’s trippa alla Romana and meatballs in vodka red sauce and you’ll find pots of squid and saffron stew bubbling away alongsidebeef ragu in the kitchen.
For the past five years Shannon Martinez has been changing what plant-based dining looks like in Melbourne and her merry band of meat-free believers have packed out her Brunswick Street restaurant since day dot, here for 2019 takes on those old Italian classic sand serious cocktails shaken with intent.
BAR CAROLINA
Its tiramisu is the talk of Toorak Road but Bar Carolina has more than just dessert drawing the crowds. While Insta check-ins are fast and furious on weekends, this slimline corner bar-cum-restaurant also has enough substanceto pull a full house on a wintry Monday evening.
Killer combo.
IL BACARO
After more than two decades of twirling spaghetti at the top end of Little Collins, Il Bacaro doesn’t reinvent the wheel,but it doesn’t need to.
Regulars at this Italian stalwart remain regular and those who haven’t dropped in for a while know they can return safe in the knowledge the stylish dining room with tightly-packed white-clothed tables will be waiting, just as they last left it.
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